
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



II I iiiiil lllililiilliiiilli 

011898 798 6 . 




penmali(^» 



P I. A T F O R ]\I 




OK niB 



%\mxkim %\\\iSkk\i SuciclD 



V 



Ai\D ITS AUXILIARIES. 



NEW YORK: 
'd by the American Anti-Slavery Society. 
1800. 



LJ^r^p3 



M 



TO THE KEADER. 

Thk princmles, purposes, and meamves of the Amerioan Anti-Slayery 
Soc ty^Ind Fts Luxillaries having ^een extensively m.^unaor^o J- a^^^^^ 
oui e as extensively misrepresented, its friends would respectfuUv subm t 
quite as exte b V i Constitution, the Declamtton of 

7. offioill acts not by the opinions and acts of individuals upon other 

to -e^hun^an be.,g,a.d ^f^^J^^.^ herewith slnitted ».U..it « 

Sed'bTdee^'^i'a suffitietr^.we,. to those ^^;l.o »- a«-..-;;|:^ 
destroy its influence by falsely representing it to be a jacob.mc 



infidel" association. 



SOCIETIES AND NEWSI-APEES. 

Samuel May, Jan., Gc.nv.j^AgeiV.M^>s .^ _^^^^ om.\My <:^'n^^^-^^,Cn of 
Tenns $2 super annum. ,. „,,,,,^ Societv, 107 North Fifth Street, Philadelpluft. 

Tonus, $1 50 per annum. , , v „, ... ,eit of its operations at Adiion. 

The Michigan Anti-Slavery Society has the seat 
■Walton, Corresponding Secretary. 



%^>»t%»*%^1«f>»^ 



CONSTITUTION 



OF THE 



^Duricint ^ittt-.Slciijfrjr <§acid£* 



Formed in Philadelphia^ December Ath, 1833. 



"Whereas the Most Ilicrh God "hath made of one blood all 
nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and hath 
commanded them to love their neighbors as themselves; and 
whereas, our National Existence is based upon this pnnciple, as 
recognized m the Declaration of Independence, "that all man- 
kind are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Cre- 
ator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness;" and whereas, after the lapse of 
nearly sixty years, since the faith and honor of the American 
people were pledged to this avowal, before Almighty God and 
the World, nearly one-sixth part of the nation are held in bond- 
age by their fellow-citizens ; and whereas, Slavery is contrary to 
the principles of natural justice, of our republican form of govern- 
ment, and of the Christian religion, and is destructive of the pros- 
perity of the country, while it is endangering the peace, union, 
and liberties of the States; and whereas, we believe it the duty 
and interest of the masters immediately to emancipate their 
slaves, and that no scheme of expatriation, either voluntary or by 
compulsion, can remove this great and increasing evil ; and 
whereas, we believe that it is practicable, by appeals to the con- 
sciences, hearts, and interests of the people, to awaken a public 
sentiment throughout the nation that will be opposed to the con- 
tinuanOc of Slavery in any part of the Republic, and by effecting 
the speedy abolition of Slavery, prevent a general convulsion ; 



(4) 

and whereas, we believe we owe it to the oppressed, to our fellow* 
citizens who hold slaves, to our whole country, to posterity, and 
to God, to do all that is lawfully in our power to bring about the 
extinction of Slavery, we do hereby agree, with a prayerful reli- 
ance on the Divine aid, to form ourselves into a society, to be 
governed by the following Constitution : — 

Article I. — This Society shall be called the Americait 
Anti-Slavery Socikty. 

Article II. — Tlie object of this Society is the entii'C aboli- 
tion of Slavery in the United States. It shall «im to convince 
all our fellow citizens, by arguments addressed to their under- 
standings and consciences, that Slaveholding is a heinous crime 
in the sight of God, and that the duty, safetv, and best interests 
of all concerned, require its immediate abandonment^ without 
expatriation. The Society will also endeavor, in a constitu- 
tional way, to influence Congress to put an end to the dumestic 
Slave trade, and to abolish Slavery in all those portions of 
our common country which come under its control, especially 
in the District of Columbin, — and likewise to prevent the 
extension of it to any State that may be hereafter admitted 
to the Union. 

Article III. — This Society shall aim to elevate the character 
and condition of the people of color, by encouraging their intel- 
lectual, moral, and religious improvement, and by removing pub- 
lic prejudice, that thus they may, according to their intellectual 
and moral worth, share an equality with the whites, of civil and 
religious privileges ; but this Society will never, in any way, 
countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by resort- 
ing to physical force. 

Article IV. — Any person who consents to the principles of 
this Constitution, who contributes to the funds of this Society, 
and is not a Slaveholder, may be a member of this Society, and 
shall be entitled to vote at the meetings. 

Article V. — The officers of this Society shall be a President, 
Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretaiy, Corresponding Secre- 



(5) 

taries, a Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of not less than 
five nor more than twelve members. 

Article VI. — The Executive Committee shall have power to 
enact their own by-laws, fill any vacancy in their body and in 
the offices of Secretary and Treasurer, employ agents, determine 
what compensation shall be paid to agents, and to the Corre- 
sponding Secretaries, direct the Treasurer in the application of 
all moneys, and call special meetings of the Society. They shall 
make arrangements for all meetings of the Society, make an an- 
nual written report of their doings, the expenditures and funds 
of the Society, and shall hold stated meetings, and adopt the 
most energetic measures in their power to advance the objects of 
the Society. They may, if they shall see fit, appoint a Board of 
Assistant Managers, composed of not less than three nor more 
than seven persons residing in New York City or its vicinity, 
whose duty it shall be to render such assistance to the Commit- 
tee in conducting the aftairs of the Society as the exigencies of 
the cause may require. To this Board they may from time to 
time confide such of their own powers as they may deem neces- 
sary to the efficient conduct of the Society's business. The Board 
shall keep a record of its proceedings, and furnish a copy of the 
same for the information of the Committee, as often as may be 
required. 

Article YII. — The President shall preside at all meetings of 
the Society, or, in his absence, one of the Vice-Presidents, or, in 
their absence, a President pro tern. The Corresponding Secre- 
taries shall conduct the correspondence of the Society. The 
Recording Secretary shall notify all meetings of the Society, and 
of the Executive Committee, and shall keep records of the same 
in separate books. The Treasurer shall collect the subscriptions, 
make payments at the direction of the Executive Committee, and 
present a written and audited account to accompany the annual 
report. 

Article VIII. — The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be 
held each year at such time and place as the Executive Commit- 
tee may direct, when the accounts of the Treasurer shall be pre- 
sented, the annual report read, appropriate addresses delivered, 
the officers chosen, and such other business transacted as shall 
be deemed expedient. 



(6) 

Article IX. — Any Anti-Slaverj Society or Association, 
founded on the same principles, may become auxiliary to this 
Society. The officers of each Auxiliary Society shall be ex officio 
members of the Parent Institution, and shall be entitled to dehb- 
erate and vote in the transactions of its concerns. 

Article X. — This Constitution may be amended, at any an- 
nual meeting of the Society, by a vote of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers present, provided the amendments proposed have been 
previously submitted, in writing, to the Executive Committee. 



OFFICERS FOR 1860-1. 

President : 
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON", of Massachusetts. 

Vice-Presidents : 
Peter Libby, Maine ; Luther Melendy, John M. Hawks, 
New Hampshire ; Jehiel C. Claflin, Vermont ; Francis Jack- 
son, Edmund Quincy, Massachusetts ; Asa Faihbanks, Rhode 
Island ; James B. Whitcomb, Connecticut ; Samuel J. May, 
Cornelius Bramhall, Amy Post, Pliny Sexton, Lydia Mott, 
Henry A. Hartt, New York ; Lucretia Mott, Robert Purvis, 
Edward M. Davis, Thomas Whitson, Joseph Moore, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Rowland Johnson, Alfred Gibbs Campbell, Kew 
Jersey ; Thomas Garrett, Delaware ; Thomas Donaldson, 
Benjamin Bown, Ohio; William Hearn, William Hopkins, 
Indiana; Joseph Me rritt, Thomas Chandler, Cyrus Fuller, 
Michigan ; Carver Tomlinson, Illinois ; Caleb Green, Minne- 
sota ; Georgiana B. Kirby, California. 

Corresponding Secretary : 

Charles C. Burleigh, Plainfield, Ct. 

Recording Secretary : 

Wendell Phillips, Boston, 

Treasurer : 
Francis Jackson, Boston. 



(7) 

Executive Committee: 

William Lloyd Garrison, Francis Jackson, Edmund 
QuiNCY, Maria Weston Chapman, Wendell Phillips, Anne 
Warren Weston, Sydney IIoward Gay, Samuel May, Jun., 
William I. Bowditch, Charles K.Whipple, Henry C. ^^'KIGIIT, 
Charles Follen. 



Jlcrliiratioit of Snitiinente, 

OF TUB 

AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY 



ADOPTED AT THK FORMATIOX OF SAID 90CIETV, IX PHILADELPHIA, OF THE 4tH DAY 

OF DECEMBER, 18S3. 



The Convention, assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to 
ororanize a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the 
opportunity to promulgate the following DECLARATION OF 
SENTIMENTS, as cherished by them, in relation to the enslave- 
ment of one sixth portion of the American people. 

More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of 
patriots convened in this place to devise measures for the deliver- 
ance of this country from a foreign yoke. Tlie corner-stone upon 
which they founded the Temple of Freedom was broadly this — 
" that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, 
LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness." At the sound of their 
trumpet-call, three millions of people rose up as from the sleep of 
death, and rushed to the strife of blood ; deeming it more glo- 
rious to die instantly as freemen, than desirable to live one hour 
as slaves. They were few in number — poor in resources; but 
the honest conviction that Truth, Justice, and Right were on 
their side, made them invincible. 

We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise 



(8) 

■without which that of our fathers is incomplete, and which, for 
its magnitude, solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny 
of the world, as far transcends theii's as moral truth does physical 
force. 

In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of pur- 
pose, in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity 
of spirit, we would not be inferior to them. 

Their principles led them to wnge war against their oppress- 
ors, and to spill human blood like water, in order to be free. 
Ours forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us 
to reject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all 
carnal weapons for deliverance from bondage ; relying solely 
upon those which are spiritual and mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strongholds. 

Their measures were physical resistance — the marshaling in 
arms — the hostile array — the mortal encounter. Ours shall be 
such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption 
— the destruction of error by the potency of truth — tlie over- 
throw of prejudice by the power of love — and the abolition of 
slavery by the spirit of repentance. 

Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in compar- 
ison with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. 
Our fathers were never slaves — never bought and sold like cattle 
— never shut out from the light of knowledge and religion — 
never subjected to the lash of brutal taskmasters. 

But those for whose emancipation we are striving — consti- 
tuting, at the present time, at least one sixth part of our country- 
men — are recognized by the law, and treated by their fellow- 
beings, as marketable commodities, as goods and chattels, as brute 
beasts; are plundered daily of the fruits of their toil, without 
redress — really enjoying no constitutional nor legal protection 
from licentious and murderous outrages upon their persons ; are 
ruthlessly torn asunder — the tender babe from the arms of its 
frantic mother — the heart-broken wife from her weeping husband 
— at the caprice or pleasure of irrespons^ible tyrants. For the 
crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the pangs of hun- 
g«'r, the infliction of stripes, and the ignominy of brutal servitude. 
They are kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly enacted 
to make their instruction a criminal offense. 

These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of 
more than two millions of our people, the proof of which may be 



(9) 

found in thousnnds of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the 
slavebolding States. 

Hence we maintain, that in view of the civil .*7id reliG^ious 
privileges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is uneijualed 
by any other on the tace of the earth ; and, therefore, 

That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy 
burdens, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free. 

We further maintain, that no man has a right to enslave or 
imbrute his brother — to hold or acknowledge him, for one mo- 
ment, as a piece of merchandise — to keep back his hire by fraud 
— or to brutalize his mind by denying him the means of intellec- 
tual, social, and moral improvement. 

The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to 
uiurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his 
own body — to the products of his own labor — to the protection 
of law, and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy 
to buy or steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. 
Surely the sin is as great to enslave an American as an Arui- 

CAN. 

Therefore, we believe and affirm, That there is no difference, 
in principle, oetween the African slave-trade and American 
slavery. 

That every American citizen who retains a human being in 
involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture 
(Kx. xxi. 16), a man-stealer. 

That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought 
under the protection of law. 

That if they lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the 
present period, and had been entailed through successive genera- 
tions, their right to be free could never have been alienated, but 
their claims would have constantly risen in solemnity. 

That all those laws which are now in force admitting the right 
of slavery, are therefore before God utterly null and void ; being 
an audacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring in- 
fringement on the law of nature, a base overthrow of the veiy 
foundations of the social compact, a complete extinction of all 
the relations, endearments, and obligations of mankind, and a 
presumptuous transgression of all the holy commandments; and 
that, therefore, they ought instantly to be abrogated. 

We further believe and alHrm — That all persons of color who 
1* 



(10) 

possess the qualifications which are demanded of others, ought 
to be admitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges, 
and the exercise of the same prerogatives, as others; and that 
the paths of preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, should be 
opened as widely to them as to persons of a white complexion. 

We maintain that no compensation should be given to the 
planters emancipating the slaves — 

Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental 
\)rinciple that man cannot hold property in man ; 

Because slavery is a crime, and therefore is not an 

ARTICLE TO BE SOLD ; 

Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors of 
what they claim ; freeing the slaves is not depriving them of 
property, but restoring it to its rightful owners ; it is not wrong- 
ing the master, but righting the slave — restoring him to himself; 

Because immediate and general emancipation would only 
destroy nominal, not real property ; it would not amputate a 
limb or break a bone of the slaves ; but, by infusing motives into 
their breasts, would make them doubly valuable to the masters 
as free laborers ; and 

Because, if compensation is to be given at all, it should be 
given to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those who 
have plundered and abused them. 

We regard as delusive, cruel, and dangerous, any scheme of 
expatriation which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, 
in the emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for the 
immediate and total abolition of slavery. 

We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of each 
State to legislate exclusively on the subject of tbe slavery which 
is tolerated within its limits ; we concede that Congress, under 
the present national compact^ has no right to interfere with any 
of the Slave States in relation to this momentous subject. 

But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly 
bound, to suppress the domestic slave-trade between the several 
States, and to abolish slavery in those portions of our territory 
which the Constitution has placed under its exclusive jurisdic- 
tion. 

We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the 
highest obligations resting upon the people of the free States to 
remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in the 
Constitution of the United States. They arc now living under a 



(11) 

pledge of their tremendous pliysical torce, to fiusten the galling 
fetters of t^yranny upon the liinhs of millions in tlic Southern 
States; they are liable to be called at any moment to suppress a 
general insurrection of the slaves; they authorize the slave-owner 
to vote on three-lifths of his slaves as property, and thus enable 
him to perpetuate his oppression ; they support a standing army 
at the South for its protection ; and they seize the slave who haa 
escaped into their territories, and send him back to be tortured 
by an enraged master or a brutal driver. This relation to slavery 
is criminal and full of danger : it must be broken up. 

These are our views and principles — these our designs and 
measures. AVith entire confidence in the overruling justice of 
God, we plant ourselves upon the Declaration of our Independ 
ence and the truths of Divine Revelation, as upou the Everlasting 
Rock. 

We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every 
city, town, and village in our land. 

We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remon- 
strance, of warning, of entreaty, and rebuke. 

We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, anti-slaveiy 
• tracts and periodicals. 

We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the 
suffering and the dumb. 

We shall aim at a purificaiion of the churches from all par- 
ticipation in the guilt of slavery. 

We shall encourage the labor of freemen rather than that of 
slaves, by giving a preference to their productions ; and 

We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the wliole 
nation to sj)eedy repentance. 

Our trust for victory is solely in God. We may be person- 
ally defeated, but our principles, never. Truth, Justice, Reason, 
Humanity, must and will gloriously triumph. Already a host is 
coming up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, and the 
prospect before us is full of encouragement. 

Submitting this DECLARATION to the candid examination 
of the people of this country, and of the friends of liberty through- 
out the world, we hereby alfix our signatures to it; pledging 
ourselves that, under the guidance and by the help of Almighty 
God, we will do all that in us lies, consistently with this Declara- 
tion of our principles, to overthrow the most execrable system of 
slavery that has ever been witnessed upon earth — to deliver our 



(12) 

land from its deadliest curse — to wipe out the foulest stain which 
rests upon our national escutcheon — and to secure to the colored 
population of the United States all the rijrhts and privileges 
which belong to them as men and as Americans — come what 
may to our persons, our interests, or our reputation — whether we 
live to witness the triumph of liberty, justice, and humanity, 
or perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and 
holy cause. 

Done at Philadelphia, the Gth day of December, A. D. 1833. 



-♦^♦- 



EXPOSITION OF THE AXTI-SLAVERY PLATFORM. 

Speech of William Lloyd Garrison^ President of the American Anti- 
Slavery Socie'y, at the New England Anti-Slavery Convention^ in 
Bodon, May, 1S53. 

[Phonogrftiihically rcportefl by J. M. W. Terrinton.] 

Mr. President, — T ri^^e to submit to the Convention the fol- 
lowing Resolutions, which seem to me specially called for at the 
present time, when so much misapprehension exists, on both sides 
of the Atlantic, as to the ti-ue character and real position of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society: — 

" 1. Resolved, That inasmnch as the condition of member- 
ship in the American Anti-Slavery Society is, simply, the recog- 
nition of the self-evident truth, that no man can hold property in 
man, that immediate emancipation is the right of the slave and 
the duty of the master ; as that Society neither disciplines nor 
excommunicates any member on any charge of acting inconsist- 
ently with his anti-slavery profession ; as its platform is as open 
to its opponents as to its friends, and free to all ; and as the great 
instrumentality for the peaceful abolition of slavery is the utter- 
ance and application of the truth to the consciences and hearts 
of the people ; it follows, that so long as the Society is true to 
its fundamental principles, it furnishes common ground for all 
those who claim to be anxious for the overthrow of the slave sys- 
tem, and secession from it is an indication of a factious spirit, or 



( 13 ) 

of conscious unwillingness or inability to meet the responsibilitiea 
of the cause and the duties of the hour. 

"2. Resolved^ That no man, who consents to stand on the 
anti-slavery platform, — or standing where he may, no man -who 
professes to be the friend and advocate of the slave, especially if he 
occupy a high, responsible station, — has a right to claim exemp- 
tion from anti-slavery criticism, or to construe it into a personal 
affront, or to plead his unquestionable and unquestioned anti- 
slavery acts as entitling him to go unrebuked in cases where he 
is regarded as found wanting. 

" 3. Resolved^ That it is not only the right, but the duty of 
the professed friends of the slave to be watchful and jealous, lest 
there be any compromise of his rights, and to admonish each 
other whenever or wherever there seems to be a dereliction from 
the strict line of anti-slavery principle ; and whoever takes offense 
at this, or withdraws himself from our platform in consequence 
thereof, shows himself to be consciously in the wrong, and unable 
to vindicate his position." 

These Resolutions are so comprehensively expressed as to ren- 
der it unnecessary for me to occupy any considerable portion of 
the time of the Convention in their elucidation. 

Sir, for what are we assembled at this Annniversary ? It is 
to bear anew our testimony against chattel slavery in our land. 
That sin is so palpable, that crime is so enormous, that no man 
can honestly doubt in regard to its real nature ; for God never 
yet made a human being who felt in his soul that he ought to be 
a slave ; and, therefore, the universal heart of our common hu- 
manity, in all ages, in all climes, has rejected the idea that man 
can be made the property of man. 

Well, then, we are all opposed to slavery — so we say ; we all 
desire its abolition — such is our profession. But how shall we 
the most effectively proceed, to accomplish its overthrow ? What 
shall be the mode by which we shall co-operate, in order to 
achieve this great and sublime object ? Or is there no common 
bond of union to unite us together on the side of liberty ? Why, 
sir, the slaveholders of the South, divided as they are by sectarian 
and party lines, — divided, in these particulars, just as we are at 
the North, — are not div^ided on the subject of slavery. They rea- 
dily combine their means and inlluences for its preservation and 
perpetuity, making every other consideration subordinate. Now, 
is it not possible for the true friends of freedom to be as united in 



(14) 

the defense and extension of her sacred cause, thougli differing in 
their religious and political opinions ? I affirm that we can 
unite ; that we ought to unite ; nay, that the true in spirit are 
united, all over this country. 

But, surely, it is desirable to organize ; it is better to work to- 
gether than to work singly ; for by concentrating our forces we can 
operate all the more powerfully upon public opinion. But how 
shall we organize ? Wliat should be the platform laid down, on 
which to invite every opponent of slavery to stand ? 

In the first place, it ought not to be a religious organization, 
technically speaking — Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, or any 
other; for that would be exclusive and sectarian. It w^ould 
leave a vast multitude of the friends of freedom outside of it, for 
various reasons ; and, hence, there would be great loss of strength, 
and an unwise division of forces. 

In the second place, it must not be, simply or mainly, a polit- 
ical organization ; for as only a small portion of the people are 
permitted to vote in this government — as one half of the popula- 
tion, on account of their sex, are politically disfranchised — as 
many persons are conscientiously opposed to upholding a govern- 
ment of violence and blood — as many others are precluded from 
the ballot-box by their views of the pro-slavery compromises in 
the Constitution — a mere political organization must necessarily 
be exclusive, and therefore contracted in its sphere of activity and 
influence. 

Sir, we w^ant something better than either the one or the other, 
something more catholic, more philosophical, more comprehen- 
sive. Can w^e get it ? What ought to be its leading character- 
istic ? What should be the condition and test of membership 2 
I add- 
In the third place, the organization must not exclude women 
either from membership or from active participation in its affairs; 
because women abhor, and have reason to abhor slavery, as 
intensely as men ; and because as many w^omen are clanking 
their chains, and crying for relief as men. Every member must 
be permitted to " plead the cause of all such as are appointed to 
destruction," on his or her own responsibility, as a sense of duty 
may determine. 

Lastly, the object of the organization must b5 moral agita- 
tion — the promulgation of the truth, and its application to the 
consciences of a [)eople who are " laden with iniquity," and 



( 15 ) 

"whose bands are full of blood." It is a moral regeneration 
wbich is to be effected, as much now as in apostolic times, and by 
the same instrumentality — the foolishness of preaching. 

It is evident, moreover, that such an organization should be 
based upon a self-evident truth, and animated by a vital prin- 
ciple, appealing alike to the understanding and conscience of 
every human being, without regard to religious or political opin- 
ions. That truth is, that slavt-holding is, under all circumstances, 
a sin against God; and, therefore, that immediate emancipation 
is the right of the slave and the duly of the master. What is 
self-evident is all-embi'acing, and may be held in common by men 
and womr-n ; by Christians and infidels ; by those who belong to 
religious bodies, and by those who do not ; by those who exer- 
cise the elective franchise, and by those who are disfranchised for 
conscience' sake. We can all give our hearty indorsement to 
the principle, — requiring nothing beyond this, that each one shall 
apply and carry it out, with conscientious fidelity, at whatever 
cost, and wherever it may lead, according to the light that is in 
him. 

Well, what next ? The platform of the organization must be 
free to all, and speech upon it left untrameled. There must be 
a willingness to hear not only those who are friendly to its ob- 
ject, but also those who are hostile to it; for the truth has nothing 
to fear in an open encounter with error, and ever courts inquiry 
and examination — ever cominsf out the better and stroncrer for it. 
Now, sir, this is the spirit, the freedom, the platform of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society. That Society is willing to hear, 
at its own pecuniary expense, in its own meetings, whatever may 
be said against its principles or measures, in whatever temper or 
language. If it has any favors to grant, they are granted espe- 
cially to those who are disposed to assail it — giving them (in the 
greatness of its magnanimity) not only an equal chance, but 
more than justice requires, if desired. This is the secret of its 
freshness and power. If ever the time shall come when this lofty 
trait in its character shall be blotted out, then you may write 
" Ichabod" upon its walls, and proclaim its downfall. 

Sir, we resort to no disci |)li nary measures. We put forth no 
hulls of excommunication. We neither exclude nor suspend any- 
member, on any ground Xvhatever. Every one is as free to go as 
he is free to come, incurring no censure for his withdrawal. As 
a condition of membership in the Society, we are agreed aimpiv 



(16) 

as to tlie abstract principle ; we are agreed, also, that it is tlie 
duty of each and all to adhere to it, as its legitimate application 
may be perceived, " remembering them that are in bonds, as 
bound with them." AVhenever any thing is found hostile to its 
progress, then whoever makes the disicovery is boimd to cry out 
against the obstacle, and attempt its removal. If, in the course 
of the conflict, he shall find himself called upon to cut off his 
right hand or pluck out his right eye, there must be no hesitancy 
— the hand must come off, the eye must come out. 

Sir, we are sometimes accused of being narrow and exclusive 
in our organization, — of imposing tests and requiring conditions 
which interfere with individual conviction and personal freedom. 
No accusation can be more unjust, no opinion more erroneous. 
Do we say that the members of the American Anti-Slavery Soci- 
ety must agree in proclaiming the Constitution of the United 
States to be " a covenant with death, and an agreement with 
hell "? Do we say that none shall be members who vote for 
such men as Franklin Pierce or Winfield Scott ? Do we say 
that they shall be excommunicated, if they remain with the Whig, 
or Democratic, or Free Soil party — or with a pro-slavery church 
or denomination, or support a pro-slavery clergy ? We say no 
such thing ; we make no such requirement ; we let every man 
stand accountable to his God. 

But there is one thing we do, and mean to persist in doing : 
we keep our platform open to all, and free to all, without respect 
of persons. We utter our convictions fearlessly and independ- 
ently as to who and w^hat is pro-slavery, and allow nothing in 
Church or State to pass unchallenged respecting its position to 
the anti-slavery cause ; we mean to criticise, reprove, and warn, 
and are ready to be criticised, reproved, and warned in turn. 

Of course, the American Anti-Slavery Society is as much 
bound to make a faithful application of its distinctive principles 
as each individual member. To be eftective in its operations, it 
must cherish and promulgate definite opinions — the collective 
ojiinions of its members, as expressed by a majority on any given 
point, for the time being. True, it may sometimes err in judg- 
ment ; it may not always come to a right decision ; still, as it 
ever holds itself open to reproof and conviction, as it gives the 
minority every desirable opportunity to expose its fallacies or 
errors, this atlbrds no good reason for refusing to cooperate with 
it, unless it p^dpably discards its fundamental j^rinciple. All that 



(17) 

can be done, among fallible human beings, under the circum* 
stances, to arrive at a true result, is assuredly done ; and where 
this spirit prevails, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, rely 
upon it, that result will be sati.^^factory — such as duty demands. 
Welcoming the light, from whatever quarter it may shine, how 
is it possible for the Society to evince a stronger conviction of 
the rectitude of its course, — or, if in error, a more manly desire to 
be set right, — or a more unselfish consecration to the cause of the 
enslaved in our land ? 

No step has the American Anti-Slavery Society ever taken 
backwards. Not that it is conceited, dogmatical, unwilling to 
yield when in error ; but because there has been no occasion for 
retracting or going back. We have abandoned many of our steps, 
but it is the abandonment of conquered outposts in our onward 
march, to grapple all the more vigorously with the enemy in the 
citadel of his strength. We do not stand precisely where we 
did twenty years ago, or even ten years ago ; we are all the 
while finding new issues and making fresh advances ; and all this 
is essential to the abolition of slavery. 

Now, then, if we do not dictate to any man to what party he 
shall belong, to what creed he shall subscribe, to what church he 
shall give in his adhesion, or from which he must withdraw, or 
what he shall think or say of the Constitution or government of 
the country — if we allow him free speech, and he professes to 
agree with us in princijyle, and in the duty of adhering to it under 
all circumstances — what excuse has he for absenting himself from 
this platform ? How can he justify himself in lifting his heel 
against us ? Why should he run away ? Here is the place to 
maintain his position. What if the Society deem him to be un- 
sound in some of his views, or pro-slavery in some of his relations 
to Church or State ? He beli.^ves his position to be a tenable 
one. Then, as a conscientious and sincere friend of the slave, he 
will be serene and unmoved, instead of getting angry and furious. 
Instead of impeaching the motives or spirit of the Society, he 
will say, " You give me all I ask — all that any man, who has a 
soul, can desire — the opportunity to state my convictions freely, 
and to defend my conduct; and that is enough ! Believing that 
1 am right, I have full faith that, ultimately, I shall have the sat- 
isfaction of seeing the Society espouse my side of the question." 

And yet, Mr. President, what secessions have taken place from 
our ranks, from time to time I All the way through, following 



(18) 

all along the track of our march, are to be found the carcasses of 
multitudes who have perished by the way. They ran well for a 
time, and then they fell to the earth, and perished. Others, grow- 
ing hateful and personal in their spirit, placing their sectarianism 
above and beyond the anti-slavery cause itself, have become em- 
bittered against the Society, and sought to destroy it ; and evi- 
dently far more anxious to cripple the efforts and blacken the 
character of the uncompromising Abolitionists, than to bring 
slavery into disrepute. 

Again I ask, what is it that we exact ? Not conformity in 
judgment or practice as to the application of the principle to 
which we subscribe, in order to membership in the Society, but 
only as to the principle itself — an indorsement of its soundness 
and paramount importance. We make due allowance for the 
fact, that mankind make progress, if sometimes rapidly, more 
commonly by a slow process. We know in the nature of the 
case, that all men do not leap to the same conclusion, logically, 
or by intuition, at the same moment. We know that, among 
those who are equally honest, there may be justifiable hesitancy 
on the part of some, and honest doubt on the part of others, as to 
where the principle fairly applies. We admit that there will be 
cases where men the most clear-sighted may, for a time, be some- 
what troubled to decide whether this or that step is really a com- 
promise of principle. But then, sir, all these things must be tol- 
erated, if we would work together for the overthrow of slavery. 
Ultimately, we may all see eye to eye. 

Sir, if a member of our organization can belong to the Whig 
or Democratic party, and feel that he occupies a true anti-sla\^ery 
position in so doing, let him remain with the party. To his own 
conscience let him be true. To his own master he must stand or 
fall. What we shall do is, when he comes upon our platform, to 
endeavor to show that his position is inconsistent with the princi- 
ple he has accepted, and is practically pro-slavery. As Lot was 
commanded to tiee out of Sodom, that he mio^ht not be destroved 
with its inhabitants; as God says to his people in Babylon, 
" Come out of her, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that 
ye receive not of her plagues ;" so we think anti-slavery demands 
the abandonment of every pro-slavery sect and party. Still, if 
any one does not feel called upon to leave his party, or church, 
or the government, he is at liberty to remain in it ; and he will 
manifest his sincerity by exhibiting a manly front, and evincing 



(19) 

his readiness to be examined as to bis conduct. He will endeavor 
to sbow tbat be is actuated by tbe bighest regard for tbe cause of 
tbose in bondnge, and tbat in tbe position be occupies, be sin- 
cerely believes be can do better service to tbat cause tban in any 
otber way. 

Now, sir, can you conceive of any tbiug more cbaritable tbtm 
tins — more magnanimous tban tbis — more sublimely courageous 
tban tbis — a liigber evidence of a desire to be in tbe rigbt, and a 
wisb never to be in tbe wrong, on tbe part of our Association ? 
Where is there such liberty conceded on any otber platform, reli- 
gious or political ? What other enterprise — except tbe little, 
despised Non-Resistance enterprise — has ever been so constituted, 
or so indulgent on tbe score of freedom of speech to all ? The 
Free Soil platform is not free ; tbe Free Soil meeting is not free — 
(I say it not invidiously, of course — I only deal with tbe fact.) 
It is exclusively for Free Soilers ; it does not say, " We welcome 
eveiy man to this platform, to show us wherein we are in tbe 
wrong," No ; what is tbe reason ? I have my own opinion 
about it — what do you think ? 

"Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just." 

There are tbose in our ranks who deem tbe position of tbe Free 
Soil party not tbe highest and best for tbe cause of tbe slave. 
TJcey might come on to the platform — and if it were a free one, 
they certainly would come — and there would be a searching ex- 
amination. Is it to prevent such an examination tbat their meet- 
ings are not as free as our own ? Why, sir, if at any of their 
gatherings they can get a Webster Whig, or a Hunker Demo- 
crat, to undertake the defense of his party, or to make an assault 
upon theirs, there is great rejoicing, and they are quite ready to 
shout, " To the platform — to tbe platform ! Hear him — bear 
liim !" Why is this ? Because, as against the Webster Whig or 
the Hunker Democrat, the Free Soilers know that they occupy 
tbe vantage ground, and can cover him with confusion of face. 
But with regard to tbe radical, uncompromising Abolitionists, 
their presence is not welcomed, and they are not invited to occupy 
tbe platform. 

Wm. a. White, of Watertown — Does Mr. Garrison mean 
tbis Convention to underetand, that the meetings of the Free Soil- 



(20) 

ers are not open to all who claim to be the friends of the slave, 
or whether they do or not ? 

Mr. Garrison — I will answer that question by asking another, 
which is the Yankee method, you know. Does our friend 
AVhite mean to say that the Free Soil meetings are thus 
free ? 

Mr. White — I do ; and I hereby invite Mr. Garrison to at- 
tend the next Free Soil Convention, and make a speech. (Laugh- 
ter and applause.) 

Mr. Garrison — Very good ! But is our friend authorized, in 
behalf of the party, to make the invitation ? 

Mr. White — No, sir ; I make it on my individual responsi- 
bility. 

Mr. Garrison — I doubt if such an in-vdtation would receive 
the sanction of the party as such. At any rate, it has never yet 
been proclaimed to the world. But I am not the man to quarrel 
with that spirit, but will ever give it the right hand of fellow- 
ship. 

Mr. President, adopting the fundamental principle of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society, what have we done with it in 
our organization ? In a faithful application of it to men and meas- 
ures — to the religious and political institutions of our land — to 
constitutions and laws — we have made many discoveries — dis- 
coveries that have filled us, sometimes with amazement, some- 
times with deep regret, sometimes with heartfelt anguish ; be- 
cause we started at the outset, mixed up with the old parties and 
with the religious sects, ardent in our attachment and earnest in 
our support of them. We did not know where we were going ; 
we could not tell what was before us ; for who foresaw, when he 
gave in his adhesion to the cause of the oppressed, that he would 
be called upon to give up his party, his church, his minister — to 
lose his reputation and jeopard his worldly interest — to the extent 
he has been required to do? But we took the pledge of fidelity 
to the slave. We declared his cause to be good and true — yes, 
divine ; and hence, whatever obstructed his triumph, must be 
from the adversary, and not from God. At v»hat hazard and cost 
all this has been done, let posterity decide. 



(21) 

On many points, slowly but surely, we have arrived at g;rent 
unanimity ot" sentiment. We are generally agreed in the opin- 
ion, the Whig party of the country is foully pro-slavery, and 
therefore ought to be abandoned. We are equally convinced, 
that the Democratic party is utterly subservient to the Slave 
Power, and thoroughly polluted, from which it is the duty of 
every pure-minded man and eveiy true Democrat to withdraw. 
AVe also aflirm that a Church, claiming to be the Church of 
Christ, and yet having no bowels of mercy for the oppressed, nay, 
receiving slaveholders and slave-breeders to its communion-table, 
is a Church with which no Christian abolitionist ought to be con- 
nected ; and that, if there be one thus associated with it, he is 
bound, by his tidelity to God and the slave, to withdraw from it, 
and register his testimony against it as an anti-Christian body. 

To such conclusions, after careful examination and mature 
consideration, we have come, with but few dissenting voices in our 
ranks, but not without great hesitancy and reluctancy on the 
part of some, for a time. All did not see the duty at the same 
moment ; at first, perhaps, only a solitar;^ member saw the guilt 
of the relation, raised the warning cry, and called for consistent 
action. Then another and another apprehended it clearly, and 
the discussion went on, until nearly the whole body became sat- 
isfied as to its reality, and pronounced sentence of condemnation 
accordingly. 

We come now to the question of withdrawal from the gov- 
ernment, in consequence of the pro-slavery compromises of the 
Constitution. On this point, wdiile the members of the Amer- 
ican Anti -Slavery Society are now generally agreed, the professed 
friends of the slave, acting in other relations, are very much 
divided. They advocate various and discordant notions about the 
Constitution. Some say they hold it to be thoroughly and inten- 
tionally anti-slavery, and so they can vote and hold office under 
it without any compromise of principle ; others acknowledge its 
pro-slavery features, but argue that as it provides for its own 
amendment, the ballot may be innocently thrown with that ob- 
ject in view ; while others think that, if nothing more can be 
accomplished by the elective francliise than the election of men 
to Congress who will exert themselves to abolish slavery in the 
District of Columbia and the Territories, and to prevent the fur- 
ther extension of slavery, it justifies political action. Here is a 
wide diflference of opinion ; but what then ? What if we differ 



(22) 

ad {nfinitum as to the application of the principle by which we 
profess to be governed ? I want to know who the man is who is 
going to run away from the anti-slavery platform on that account ; 
and if he runs, I want to know what is the matter with him. He 
says that his own position is sound and practical ; that his con- 
science is satisfied ; that his judgment is confirmed, and he has 
not a dcubt troubling his mind. What cause has such a man to 
run from any body ? Is not he who is in the right the " one 
man who shall chase a thousand," and one of the " two who shall 
put ten thousand to flight ?" But if he be not in the right, even 
then he will manifest no disposition to flee, if he sincerely be- 
lieves he is right, or desires to be so if in error. The language of 
his heart will be, " Search me as with a candle, and see if there 
be any thing wrong in me." Being fallible, he may honestly mis- 
take his way, or misapprehend his duty; but he is not the man to 
keep from a free arena because somebody will impeach his judg- 
ment or censure his conduct — far otherwise ! Who that is really 
satisfied that he ought to remain connected with the Whig or 
Democratic party, pro-slavery though it be — with the Presbyte- 
rian, Baptist, Methodist, or any other Church, pro-slavery though 
it be, — who, I say, that believes it his duty to do this, as a friend 
of the slave^ has any just cause to complain of the liberty exer- 
cised on this platform, or to stand aloof from our meetings ? 
Hence, the resolutions I have submitted, Mr. President, seem to me 
to warrant the conclusion, that he who refuses to take his lot 
with us, who walks no more with us, or who seeks to excite pop- 
ular odium against us, gives conclusive evidence that he knows 
" there is something rotten in the state of Denmark," and that 
that state is inside of himself. (Laughter and cheers.) He fur- 
nishes ample proof of the fact, that he is not able to endure free 
discussion, and consequently " flees when no man pursueth." 

I told you that the American Anti-Slavery Society excommu- 
nicates nobody, disciplines nobody; but it does far better than 
that. It is not without a winnowing machine, which separates 
the chafl" from the wheat with wonderful discrimination. It has 
an instrument by which it detects the false, unmasks the hypo- 
critical, exposes the compromising, almost as by an infallible 
power. It is fuee, untrammeled speech, on a free, un- 
TRAMMELED PLATFORM ! Wliocvcr cannot staud the trial, is 
either a coward or a consciously corrupt man. (Loud cheers.) 

But the inquiry is frequently made, " Why criticise and 



(23) 

arraign such inen as Charles Sumner, Iloraeo Mann, and John 
P. Hale?'' Why not criticise and arraign them, if they are at 
any time found wanting? Who are they, to claim or to desire 
exemption from the strictest scrutiny? Are they infallible? 
Are they demi-gods ? If they stumble in the dark, or we believe 
them to be stumbling, shall we raise no warning voice, acting as 
they do the part of political leaders ? Not criticise them ! — let 
them go, forsooth, because they make good anti-slavery speeches 
now and then — help the fugitive slave now and then — and man- 
fully resist the usurpations of the Slave Power ! Why, sir, do 
we not gratefully acknowledge all that they do for the slave, and 
give them full credit for it ? The anti-slavery speeches of ^lann, 
of Sumner, of Hale, of Giddings, I have always gladly printed in 
the columns of The Liberator — (loud applause) ; and I think 
I have not been chary in my tribute to those gentlemen for the 
anti-slavery work that they have done. For one, I must be 
beside mvself, if I can quarrel with them for being faithful to our 
cause. ]3ut when, in my judgment, they fail to carry out their 
principles, or stand in a pro-slavery relation, what shall I do, as 
an honest man — as their friend, and as the advocate of the slave? 
Shall I be dumb? Shall I say, " Xo matter — they mean well ; 
they have said and done many very good things ; let them run " ? 
Why, nobody should let them run. I hold the slaveholder to 
the strictest account; shall I not hold every other man ? Am I 
not so held by this nation ? To such an account God will hold 
us all. 

Do you recollect the case of the young man in the Gospel — 
the good young man — who had lived so exemplary a life, who 
came to Jesus, saying, " Good Master, what shall I do that I may 
inhijrit eternal life ? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou 
me good ? there is none good, but one, that is God. Th.u know- 
est the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill, Do 
not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not. Honor thy 
father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Mas- 
ter, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus be- 
holding him, loved him, and said unto him. One thing thou lack- 
est ; go thy way, sell whaUoever thou hast, and give to the poor, 
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, take up thy 
cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went 
away grieved ; for he had great possessions." So iu regard to 
our Free Soil frierid*. Have they not made good anti slavery 



(24) 

speeches ? — what lack they yet ? Have they not contributed to 
the funds of the anti-slavery cause ? — what lack they yet ? Have 
they not assisted fugitive slaves to escape? — what lack they yet ? 
One thing; and that is, they are in a political union with bloody- 
minded oppressors, and they ought to come out and separate 
themselves forever from it. (Loud applause.) But they turn 
away sorrowful, for they almost idolize the ballot-box. 

Sir, we are bound to watch over each other, and to admonish 
each other in love, and with all fidelity. But what if a man 
does not admonish me in love — does that justify me in getting 
angry ? What if, on this platform, I am unjustly censured by 
him ? Shall I leave it in a passion ? No, sir. It is for me to 
bear wnth him ; to bear Avith everybody ; to let patience have its 
perfect work ; and to be satisfied with the liberty granted to me 
to show that my accuser is in the wrong — if I am able. 

Such is the American Anti-Slavery Society. Honest Whigs, 
Democrats, Free Soilers, you can be members of it. Honest 
Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Catholics, you 
need not stand aloof from it. You have equal rights here — free 
speech here — and the object is w^orthy of your united support — 

FREEDOM FOR ALL, AND CHAINS FOR NONE ! The grOUud OCCU- 

pied by the Society is catholic, broad, compi'ehensive ; yet strin- 
gent in that kind of criticism to which I have alluded, namely, 
free speech and free investigation. This is the only vital organi- 
zation in our jaud to overturn slavery. The political one is nar- 
row, and its action is spasmodic and limited A sectarian 
organization can never meet the wants of the great heart of our 
common humanity. I therefore glory in the American Anti- 
Slavery Society, in the spirit which animates it, in the noble and 
unsurpassed example it is giving to the world of faith in the 
truth, in its willingness to be searched, in its determination to 
make the liberation of the slave paramount to all other con- 
siderations. 

One word further. By membership with that Society,- we 
indorse the views of no man on politics or religion, — no, not even 
the anti-slavery soundness of any member of the organization. 
We acknowledge simply an abstract principle, adverse to the 
institution of slavery, and agree that we wnll be true to it, as light 
is given us. That is all. As to the hue and cry on this side 
of "the Atlantic, and in England, that the American Anti-Slavery 
Society is a no-Bible, no-Sabbath, no-Government Society, &c., 



(2.:;) 

<tc., it has never comb from a heart heating in deep sympathy for 
the perishing slave. It ia botli a sectarian and a pro slavery de- 
vice. As a Society, we debate no other question, decide no other 
question, than that pertaining to slavery. As for the holiness of 
the Sabbath, or the inspiration of the Bible, or the rightfulness 
of government, we never have assumed to settle any of these things. 
In discussing the subject of slavery, it is to be expected that 
every man will speak in his own dialect, and after his own 
method of thinking; and illustrate his ideas in his own way. 
He is entitled to do this, and no one has a right to complain. 
The Calvinist who occupies this platform will talk of slaveholders 
going down to a never-ending hell, if they do not repent; an<l 
no Universalist lias a right to take oftense, and say — "I do not 
believe that doctrine, and it shall not be uttered here ; it is ex- 
traneous." No, it is not. It is proper for the Calvinist to assert 
it, because, with his moral training, with his conviction of the 
sin of slavery, it is the natural expression of his idea. So the 
Universalist, standing on this platform, may affirm that he be- 
lieves in the final restoration of all to God — even slaveholders 
not excepted — if he chooses to do so, in illustration of an argu- 
ment against slavery ; and the Calvinist has no right to take 
otfense, and say, " I will not hear such a declaration, nor be con- 
nected in any association with such men." So if a word is inci- 
dentally uttered here in regard to the Bible, or the Sabbath, or 
any other subject, that may be deemed heretical, remember, it is 
the speaker who is to be held responsible, not the Society ; nor 
is he to be blamed, if he evidently means to give no offense. 
When the Society itself shall bring in any extraneous question, 
and attempt to settle it, forgetting the slave, then denounce it as 
false to its professions, — and not till then. (Cheers.) 



WHAT IS MEANT BY IMMEDIATE ABOLITIOX? 

It means, in the first place, that all title of property in the 
slaves shall instantly cease ; because their Creator has never relin- 
quished his claim of ownership, and because none have a right 
to sell their own bodies or buy those of their own species as cat- 
tle. Is tliere any thing terrific in this arrangement? 
2 



(2G) 

It means, secondly, that every husband shall have his own 
wife, and every wife her own husband, both being united in wed- 
lock according to its proper forms, and placed under the protec • 
tion of law. Is this unreasonable ? 

It means, thirdly, that parents shall have the control and 
government of their own children, and that the children shall 
belong to their parents. What is there sanguinary in this con- 
cession ? 

It means, fourthly, that all trade in human beings shall be 
regarded as felony, and entitled to the highest punishment. Can 
this be productive of evil ? 

It means, fifthly, that the tremendous power which is now 
vested in every slaveholder to punish his slaves without trial, and 
to a savage extent, shall be at once taken away. Is this unde- 
sirable ? 

It means, sixthly, that all those laws which now prohibit the 
instruction of the slaves shall instantly be repealed, and others 
enacted, providing schools and instruction for their intellectual 
illumination. Would this prove a calamity ? 

It means, seventhly, that the planters shall employ their 
slaves as free laborers, and pay them just wages. Would this 
recompense infuriate them ? 

It means, eighlhly, that the slaves, instead of being forced 
to labor for the exclusive benefit of others, by cruel dilvers and 
the application of the lash upon their bodies, shall be encouraged 
to toil for the mutual profit of -themselves and their employers, 
by the infusion of new motives into their hearts, growing out of 
their recocfnition and reward as men. Is this diabolical ? 

It means, finally, that right shall take the supremacy over 
wrong, principle over brute force, humanity over cruelty, honesty 
over theft, purity over lust, honor over bavseness, love over hatred, 
and religion over heathenism. Is this wrong ? 

This is our meaning of Immediate Abolition. 

Where is the individual who is base enough to avow that, on 
these terms, he is hostile to the liberation of the slaves? who 
dares to say, in a public and responsible manner, — '* I am- still 
for giving to the planters unlimited dominion over their slaves, 
that they may treat them like cattle, deprive them of instruction, 
mangle, starve, and pollute their bodies, rob them of their earn- 
ings, and buy and sell them on speculation, as thoy do at pres- 
ent"? Where is the indi\'idual animated with a soul, havinc: 



(27) 

parents, or relations, or children, or friends, who would not ex- 
claim, " I am for the rescue of two millions of enslaved country- 
men ! To talk of the danger or injustice of giving them the 
protection of wise and equitable laws, and relieving them of 
their heavy burdens, is an insult to my understanding. I con- 
tend for the sacredness of the marriage relations, which are now 
violated by oppression — for the restoration of stolen property to 
its rightful owners — for the enforcement of that clause in the 
Declaration of Independence which asserts 'that all men are cre- 
ated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness ' — and for the instant recognition of every Ameri- 
can-born citizen, as a countryman and brother " ? — First Report 
of the N. E. A. S. Society. 



SAFETY OF IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION. 

The 1st of August, 1834, is universally regarded in Antigua 
(W. L) as having presented a most imposing and sublime moral 
spectacle. It is almost impossible to be in the company of a 
missionary, a planter, or an emancipated negro for ten minutes, 
without hearing some allusion to that occasion. Even at the 
time of our visit to Antigua, after the lapse of nearly three years, 
they spoke of the event with an admiration apparently unabated. 

For some time previous to the 1st of August, forebodings of 
disaster lowered over the island. The day was fixed ! Thirty 
thousand degraded human beings were to be brought forth from 
the dungeon of slavery and "turned loose on the community!" 
and this was to be done " in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye." 

Gloomy apprehensions were entertained by many of the 
planters. Some timorous families did not go to bed on the night 
of the 31st of July ; fear drove sleep from their eyes, and they 
awaited with fluttering pulse the hour of midnight, fearing lest 
the same bell which sounded the jubilee of the slaves should toll 
the death-knell of the masters. 

The more intelligent, who understood the disposition of the 
negroes, and contemplated the natural tendencies of emancipa- 



(28) 

tion, through philosophical principles, and in the light of human 
uature and history, were free from alarm. 

To convey to the reader some idea of the manner in which 
the gr^at crisis passed, we here give the substance of several 
accounts which were related to us in different parts of the island, 
by those who witnessed them. 

The Wesleyans kept "watch-night" in all their chapels on 
the night of the 31st of July. One of the Wesley an missionaries 
gave us an account of the watch-meeting at the chapel in St. 
John's. The spacious house was filled with the candidates for 
liberty. All was animation and eagerness. A mighty chorus of 
voices swelled the song of expectation and joy ; and, as they 
united in prayer, the voice of the leader was drowned in the uni- 
versal acclamations of thanksgiving and praise, and blessing, and 
honor, and glory to God, who had come down for their deliver- 
ance. In such exercises the evenmg was spent, until the hour of 
twelve approached. The missionary then proposed that when 
the clock on the cathedral should begin to strike, the whole con- 
gregation should fall upon their knees and receive the boon of 
freedom in silence. Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first 
note, the crowded assembly prostrated themselves on their knees. 
All was silence, save the quivering, half-stifled breath of the 
struggling spirit. The slow notes of the clock fell upon the 
multitude ; peal on peal, peal on peal, rolled over the prostrate 
throng, in tones of angels' voices, thrilling among the desolate 
chords and weary heart-strings. Scarce had the clock sounded 
its last note, when the lightning flashed vividly around, and a 
loud peal of thunder roared along the sky — God's pillar of fire, 
and his trump of jubilee ! A moment of profoundest silence 
passed — then came the hurst — they broke forth in prayer ; they 
shouted, then sung, "Glory," "Alleluia;" they clapped theii 
hands, leaped up, fell down, clasped ech other in their free 
arms, cried, laughed, and went to and fro, tossing upward their 
unfettered hands ; but high above the whole there was a mighty 
sound which ever and anon swelled up ; it was the utterings iu 
broken negro dialect of gratitude to God. 

After this gush of excitement had spent itself, and the con- 
gregation became calm, the religious exercises were resumed, and 
the remainder of the night was occupied in singing and prayer, 
in reading the Bible, and in addresses from the missionaries, ex- 
plainirg the nature of the freedom just received, and exhorting 
the freed people to be industrious, steady, obedient to the laws, 



(20) 

and to show therasplves in all things worthy of the high boon 
which God had conferred upon them. 

The 1st of August came on Friday, and a release was pro- 
claimed from all work until the next Monday. The (Jay was 
chiefly spent by the great mass of the negroes in the churches 
and chapels. Thither they flocked "as clouds, and as doves to 
tlieir windows." The clergy and missionaries throughout the 
island were actively engaged seizing the opportunity, in order to 
enlighten the people on all the duties and responsibilities of their 
new relation, and, above all, urging them to the attainment of 
that higher liberty with which Christ maketh his children free. 
In every quarter we were assured that the day was like a Sab- 
bath. Work had ceased; the hum of business was still, and 
noise and tumult were unheard on the streets. Tranquillity per- 
vaded the towns and country. A Sabbath indeed 1 when the 
wicked ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest, and 
the slave was free from the master! The planters informed us 
that they went to the chapels where their own people were 
assembled, greeted them, shook hands with them, and exchanged 
the most hearty good wishes. 

The churches and chapels were thronged all over the island. 
At Cedar Hall, a Moravian station, the crowd was so great, that 
the minister was obliged to remove the meeting from the chapel 
to a neighborinfj grove. 

At Grace Hill, another Moravian station, the negroes went 
to the missionary on the day before the 1st of August, and 
begged that they might be allowed to have a meeting in the 
chapel at sunrise. It is the usual practice among the Moravians 
to hold but one sunrise-meeting during the year, and that is on 
the morning of Easter ; but as the peo{)le besought very earnestly 
for this special favor on the Easter morning of their freedom, it 
was granted to them. 

Early in the morning they assembled at the chapel. For 
some time they sat in perfect silence. The missionary then pro 
posed that they should kneel down and sing. The whole au 
dience fell upon their knees, and sung a hymn commencing with 
the following verse : — 

" Now let us praise the Lord, 
"With body, 6oul, and spirit, 
"Who doth such wondrous things 
Beyond our sense and merit." 

2* 



(30) 

The singing was frequently interrupted with tlie tears and 
sohbings of the melted people, until finally it was wholly ar- 
rested, and a tumult of emotion overwhelmed the congregation. 

The missionary who was present on the occasion said that 
the scene was indescribable. 

During the day, repeated meetings were held. At eleven 
o'clock the people assembled in vast numbers. There were at 
least a thousand persons around the chapel who could not get in. 
For once the house of God suftered violence, and the violent took 
it by force. After all the services of the day, the people went 
again to the missionaries in a body, and petitioned to have a 
meeting in the evening. 

At Grace Bay, the people, all dressed in white, assembled in 
a spacious court in front of the Moravian chapel. They formed 
a procession, and walked arm in arm into the chapel. Similar 
scenes occurred at all the chapels, and at the churches also. We 
were told by the missionaries, that the dress of the negroes on 
that occasion was uncommonly simple and modest. There wiis 
not the least disposition to gayety. 

We were also informed by planters and missionaries m every 
part of the island, that there was not a single dance known of, 
either day or night, nor so much as a fiddle played. There wei-e 
no riotous assemblies, no drunken carousals. It was not in such 
channels that the excitement of the emancipated flowed. They 
were as far from dissipation and debauchery as they were from 
violence and carnage. Gratitude was the absorbing emotion. 
From the hill-tops and the valleys the cry of a disenthralled peo- 
ple went upward, like the sound of many waters — " Glory to 
God ! glory to God !" 

The testimony of the planters corresponds fully with that of 
the missionaries. 

Said R B. Eldridge, Esq., after speaking of the number eman- 
cipated, " Yet this vast body (30,000) glided out of slavery into 
freedom with the utmost tranquillity." 

Dr. Daniell observed, that after so prodigious a revolution in 
the condition of the negroes, he expected that some irregulari- 
ties would ensue ; but he had been entirely disappointed, lie 
also said that he anticipated some relaxation from labor during 
the week following emancipation. But lie found his hands in 
the field early on Monday morning, and not one missing. The 
same day he received word from another estate, of which he was 



(31) 

proprietor, that the negroes bad to a man refused to go to the 
field. He immediately rode to the estate, and found the people 
standing with their hoes in their hands doing nothing, lie ac- 
costed them in a friendly manner: "What does this mean, my 
fellows, that you are not at work this morning?" They imme- 
diately replied, — " It's not because we don't want to work, massa; 
but we wanted to see you first and foremost, to know what the 
haryain would be!''' As soon as that matter was settled, the 
whole body of negroes turned out cheerfully, without a moment's 
cavil. 

Mr. Bourne, of Millar's, informed us that the largest gang he 
had ever seen in the field on his property, turned out the week 
after emancipation. 

Said Hon. N. Nugent, — " Nothing could surpass the universal 
propriety of the negroes' conduct on the 1st of August, 1834! 
Never was there a more beautiful and interesting spectacle exhib- 
ited than on that occasion." — Thome and Kimball on W. /. 
£Jma)ici_pation. 



THE FINAL TRIUMPH. 

Public opinion cannot be walled in. The people of the 
South cannot shut it out from their borders. It knows no bar- 
riers — is not arrested by geographical boundaries — is not hemmed 
in by State lines or imprisoned by State legislation. It is a 
moral atmosphere which spreads itself noiselessly throughout the 
domains of intellect and intelligence. Like electricity, it mingles 
itself with all the elements of the moral world, and imperceptibly 
becomes a part of the mental constitution. Neither its progress 
nor its power can be staid. Its course is onward, and its con- 
quests are unceasing. It will infuse itself into the bosoms of our 
Southern breihren, and disentomb the buried spirit of liberty 
there. It will awaken again in them those generous sympathies, 
those noble purposes, and those elevated sentiments, which they 
once so gloriously exhibited, and which have no fellowship with 
slavery. Their pulses will yet beat in unison with those of their 
Northern brethren on this subject. The plead ing.s for the op- 
pressed, which stir New England hearts, will yet find a response 



(32) 

in Carolinian bosoms; and the shout for emancipation which 
shall go up from Bunker's Hill, will be echoed from the field oi 
Guilford and the heights of Yorktown. 

The day that shall witness the triumph of public opinion ovei 
slavery is fast approaching. From the eminence on which I now 
stand, I see in the far-off distance the great prison-house of death, 
Its gloomy walls, built up on human hearts, and cemented hj 
human tears and blood, tower up into the skies with an heaven 
insulting glory. Its impious spires and unhallowed domes, bur 
nished with the gold wrung from the sweat and toil of the 
defenseless, flash defyingly in the sun. It seems to mock the 
power of the earthquake and the storm. But while I gaze, I see 
the heaving of the ocean of public opinion beneath my feet. 
The great fountains of its deep are breaking up. I hear the 
moan of the coming tempest as it musters its storms afar off; 
and the skies gather blackness above my head. The billows go 
sweeping on in majesty and might. The surge beats upon the 
base of that proud edifice. The indignant tempest goes career- 
ing over the face of the moved waters. The roar of the roused 
ocean comes thundering upon the ear. The waves, crested with 
fury, beat with resistless energy upon its massive structures. The 
waters and the storm are up in their wrath, and speak now with 
an " earthquake voice." I see that Bastile of human hearts trem- 
ble from its very base. Its walls are shaking in the elemental 
war. Behold its towers and turrets nod and topple to their fall. 
See! its foundations give way — it reels, it sinks, it plunges, is 
gone, and the waters pass over it and hide it fof ever ! The 
spirit of peace and love broods over the tempest, and it is hushed. 
The ocean sinks into unruffled calmness, and the fury of the 
storm is stilled. And hark ! strains of the sweetest harmony 
break upon the ear. A chorus of millions of voices comes swell- 
ing upon the calm, still air, hymning praises and thanksgivings. 
It is the music of redeemed hearts and disenthralled spirits. Oh ! 
the sublimity of the song of the free ! How its sti-ains are caught 
from lip to lip, from the valley to the hill-top, from mountain to 
mountain, until the whole land is wrapped in its melody, and the 
bkies reverberate with the pealing anthem. — JS. D. Barber. 



( 23 ) 



THE IXFLUnNCE OF SLAVERY. 

* * * * j^ taints the whole country. — The existence, the 
perpetual presence of a great, prosperous, unrestrained system of 
wrong in a community, is one of the sorest trials to the moral 
sense of the people, and needs to be earnestly withstood. The 
idea of justice becomes unconsciously obscured in our minds. 
Our hearts become more or less seared to wrong. The South 
says, that slavery is nothing to us at the North. But through 
our trade we are brought into constant contact with it; we grow 
familiar with it ; still more, we thrive by it ; and the next step is 
easy, to consent to the sacrifice of human beings by whom we 
prosper. The dead know not their want of life, aud so, a people 
whose moral sentiments are palsied by the inter'/veaving of all 
their interests with a system of oppression, become degraded 
without suspecting it. In consequence of this connection with 
slave countries, the idea of human rights — that great idea of our 
age, and on which we profess to build our institutions — is dark- 
ened, weakened among us, so as to be to many little more than a 
sound. A country of licensed, legalized wrongs, is not the at- 
mosphere in which the sentiment of reverence for these rights 
can exist in full power. In such a community, there may be a 
respect for the arbitrary rights which law creates and may de- 
stroy, and a respect for historical rights, which rest on usage. 
But the fundamental rights wdiich inhere in man, as man, and 
which lie at the foundation of a just, equitable, beneficent, noble 
policy, must be imperfectly comprehended. This depression of 
moral sentiment in a people is an evil, the extent of which is not 
easily apprehended. It affects and degrades every relation of 
life. Men, in whose sight human nature is stripped of all its 
rights and dignity, cannot love or honor any who possess it, as 
they ought. In offering these remarks, I do not forget, what I 
rejoice to know, that there is much moral feeling among us in re- 
gard to slavery. But still, there is a strong tendency to indiffer- 
ence, and to something worse ; and on this account we owe it to 
our own moral health, and to the moral life of society, to express 
plainly and strongly our moral abhorrence of this institution. — 
Channing on Einancipation. 



(34) 



A SABBATH SCENE. 



B. J. G. WHITTIER. 



Scarce had the solemn Sabbath bell ceased quivering in the steeple, 
Scarce bad the parson to his desk walked stately through his people, 

When, down the summer-shaded street, a wasted female figure, 
With dusky brow and naked feet, came rushing wild and eager. 

She saw the white spire through the trees, she heard the sweet hymn swelling; 
O I pitying Christ I a refuge give that poor one in thy dwelling. 

Like a scared fawn before the hounds, right up the aisle she glided. 
While close behind her, whip in hand, a lank-haired hunter strided. 

She raised a keen and bitter cry, to Heaven and Earth appealing; 
Were manhood's generous pulses dead ? had woman's heart no feeling f 

A score of stout hands rose between the hunter and the flying; 
Age clenched his staff, and maiden eyes flashed tearful, yet defying. 

" Who dares profane this house and day ? " cried out the angry pastor; 
" Why, bless your soul 1 the wench's a slave, aud I'm her lord and master! 

" I've law and Gospel on my side ; and who shall dare refuse me ? " 
Down came the parson, bowing low, " My good sir, pray excuse me I 

"Of course I know your right divine to own, and vork, and whip her; 
Quick, Deacon, throw tliat Polyglot before the wench, and trip her I" 

Plump dropped the holy tome, and o'er its sacred pages stumbling, 
Bound hand and foot, a slave once more the hopeless wretch lay trembling. 

I saw the parson tie the knots, the while his flock addressing. 
The Scriptural claims of slavery, with text on text impressing. 

"Although," said ho, "on Sabbath day, all secular occupations 
Are deadly dns, wo must fulfill our moral obligations; 

" And this commends itself as one to every conscience tender} 
As Paul sent back Ouosimus, my Christian fiiends, wo send her I " 

Bhrlok rose on shriek; the Sabbath air her wild cries tore asunder; 

I listened, with bushed breath, to hear God answering with his tbuuderl 



(35) 



All still 1— the very altftr-cloth had smothered down her shrieking, 
And, dumb she turned from face to face, for human pity peeking I 

I saw her drag.ied along the aisle, her shackles harshly clanking. 
I heard the parson, over all, the Lord devoutly thanking! 

My brain took fire : " Is Uils," I cried, " the end of prayer and preaching? 
Then down vith pnlpit, down witli priest, and give us Nature's teaching! 

" Foul shame and scorn bo on yo all, wlio turn the good to evil, 
And steal the Bible from the Lord, to give it to the devil I 

"Than garbled text or parchment law. I own a statute higher. 
And God is true, though every book and every mau's a liar 1 " 

Just then, I f 'It the deacon's hand my coat-tail seize on, 

I heard the prit-st cry '• Infidt 1 ! " the lawyer mutter " Treason 1 " 

I started up ; — where now were church, slave, master, priest, and people? 
I only heard the supper-bell, instead of clanging steeple. 

I woke, and lo ! the fitting cause of all my dream's vagaries — 

Two bulky pamphlets, — "Webster's text, with Stuart's commentaries! 

But on the open window-sill, o'er which the white blooms drifted, 
The pages of a good old Book the wind of summer lifted. 

And flower and vine, like angel-wings around the Holy Mother, 
Waved softly there, as if God's Truth and Mercy kissed each other. 

And, freely, from the cherry-bough above the casement swinging, 
"With golden bosom to the sun, the oriole -was singing. 

Ab bird and flower made plain of old the lessons of the Teacher, 
So now I heard the written Word interpreted by Nature; 

For, to my ear. methought the breeze bore Freedom's blessed word on:— 
Thus saith the Lord, Bsbak evibt yoke, undo tub heayt bukdenI 



CONSTITUTION 

OF TUB 

NEW YORK ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 



Preamblk — Bcliering that Slavery is a sin against God and a wrong against man, 
under whatever circumstances it may exist ; that Immediate Emancipation is the right of 
the slave and the duty of the ma'^ter; and belie\ing, moreover, that the abolition of the 
Bystem demands the combined efforts of the friends of lliimanity and Freedom, without 
regard to sect, party, or sex ; the undersigned agree to form a Society, to be regulated 
according to the following articles, viz.: 

Aeticle I. — Tlie Society shall be known as the New-Tork Anti-Slavery Society, and 
shall be auxiliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society. 

Articlk II. — The obj. ctof this Society shall be to cooperate with the American Anti- 
Slavery Society in the diffusion of light and truth on the subject of Slavery, particularly in 
tiie city of New York and its vicinity, by means of Anti-Slavery lectures, books, pamph- 
lets and newspapers, by procuring subscribers to the N<ttifmal Anti-iSlavery ^tanddtrf^ 
and by such other instrumentalities as the exigencies of the cause may, from time to tim(!, 
seem to require. 

Article III. —Any person who consents to the principles set forth in the preamble may 
become a member of this Society, by signing the Constitution, — or by requesting the Ke- 
cordintr Secretary, verbally, in open meeting, or in writing if the Society is not in session, 
to append his or "her name thereto, — and contributing to its treasury. 

Article IV. — Theofficersof the Society shall bo, a President; two Vice Presidents; 
a Corresponding Secretary; a Recording Secretary; a Trea-surer; and an Executive Com- 
mittee, consisting of these and five other members; to be chosen annually by the Society. 
These officers shall perform the duties usually incident to their respective positions. Va- 
cancies occurring in any of the offices may be filled by the Executive Committee. 

Article V.— It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to devise and execnto 
plans of Anti-Slavery effort, especially in the city and its vicinity; to provide for the col- 
lection of funds; to call meetings cfthe Society, or of the public, whenever and wherever 
they may deem best; and to do whatever they may think necessary and right to extend a 
knowledge of Anti-Slavery principles, and to correct the public opinion from which Sla- 
very draws its life. They shall h-ild frequent meetings for business and consultation, and 
five of their number shall constitute a quorum. They shall keep a record of their doings, 
and make a Keport of the same to the t-ocietv at its annual meeting. 

Article VI. — The annual meeting shall be held at such time and place as the Executive 
Committee may appoint, when the officers of the Society for the ensuing year shall be cho- 
sen. Special meetings shall be called by vote of tlie Ex- cutive Committee ; or, by the lie- 
cording Secretary, at the ref|uest in writing of five members of the Society. 

Articltc VII — This Constitution tray bo ametdrd by a vote of two tl:irdsof the mem- 
bers in attendance at any annual meeting; provided, ttiat the auxiliaryship of tlie Society 
f-hall not be changed, unless nutio.' oi intt-ntion to move such chnn£:e siiall have been given, 
in writing, to the Executive Committee at least one month previous to such meeting. 



President : 
DR. HENRY A. HARTT. 

Vice-Presidents : 
Edward W. Gilbert, Eeasmtjs D. Htjdsok, Theodoee Tilton. 

CorrespondiTig Secretary: 
Oliver Johkson. 

Recording Secrefary : 
Jamfs B. Richards. 

Additional Mcmhers of the Evecutite Committee : S. H. Gat, Abby H. Gibbons, 
Cornelius Bkamiiali^ J. F. Cleveland, Elias Smitu. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 898 798 6 V 



011 898 798 6 



penmatTf6« 

pH8J 



